flotsam & jetsam

“The space alloted to each monk is one *tatami*, or a mat 3 x 6 feet, where he sits, meditates, and sleeps. […] He has no regular pillow except that which is temporarily made out of his own private property. This latter, however, is next to nothing: it consists of a *kesa* (kasaya) and *koromo* (priestly robes), a few books, a razor, and a set of bowls, all of which are carried in a papier-maché box about 13 x 10 x 3 1/2 inches. In travelling this box is carried in front, suspended from the neck with a broad sash. His entire property thus moves with its owner. “One dress and one bowl, under a tree and on a stone” graphically describes the monk’s life in India. Compared with this, the modern Zen monk must be said to be abundantly supplied. Still his wants are reduced to a minimum and none can fail to lead a simple, perhaps the simplest, life if he models his after the life of a Zen monk.”

— D. T. Suzuki: Introduction to Zen Buddhism. New York: Grove Press, 1991. p. 120.